CAS Hung decision

The government is reluctant to make any immediate move on CAS for obvious political compulsions

Anjan Mitra Delhi

The Indian government (read the Information and Broadcasting Ministry) is suddenly finding itself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, which more often than not takes great pleasure in turning red.

Sandwiched between a strident judiciary and the politics of running a coalition government with vocal allies, the Manmohan Singh regime is bound to find it difficult to implement a March Delhi High Court order that in short says: implement conditional access system (CAS) in the areas notified earlier by a previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition regime over 18 months ago.

Though the court-set deadline technically is about to get over, hectic meetings in the month of March and April between the government and industry stakeholders have yielded little result. Rather, it has given everybody a sense of déjà vu. Since 2003-04 when CAS was first mooted by the I&B ministry under Sushma Swaraj as the minister, the issue has been going round in circles.

While the cable industry, led by the big multi-system operators (MSOs), are pushing hard for CAS rollout as soon as possible, a section of the broadcasters and consumer organisations don’t seem to be yet ready for it. Though, to be fair to them, they haven’t criticized introduction of addressability in the Indian market per se.

With conflicting signals emanating from the industry stakeholders, the government could be silently rubbing its hands in glee. It has got a perfect excuse to tell the court that more than the policy makers, it’s the industry that is divided on CAS and its rollout plans. Grant us some more time, is likely to be the government line of argument. Sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started batting for the government by saying in a petition filed on 15 April that eight to nine months time is needed for effective rollout of CAS.

What’s adding to the whole confusion, which has the advertising and broadcast industry into a tizzy, is the rollout sequencing offered by stakeholders. For example, the Hindujas-owned MSO INCablenet has submitted to the government that CAS should be implemented as per the court order as a model already exists in Chennai since 2003. But Zee’s Siti Cable (now spun off as a separate company) wants a phased rollout.

While the court had given a month’s time to the government to start rolling out CAS, which technically got over on 10 April, Siti Cable has said that 14 November should be the date for rollout with the time in between used for preparations. Though the government is yet to revert to the court with a status report on CAS, such conflicting feedback hasn’t helped the cause of CAS much.

And, that the picture on CAS is still fuzzy is amplified by the stand that the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has taken. Not only has the apex body of broadcasters operating in India submitted to the ministry that its members are against handing out a la carte pricing of TV channels – which is being demanded by the cable industry – but have sought to target the cable operators by suggesting the government should mandate a law against carriage fee.

“Broadcasters are wholesalers to cable operators as the consumer price for cable TV is fixed by the operators. Under the Trai recommendations to government for CAS implementation presented on October 1, 2004, it was recommended that there should be no price control in addressable markets. In view of this, we believe that for CAS notified areas, there should be no price fixation,” states an IBF letter.

The letter further states that the government should “mandate and prohibit” cable operators from “demanding carriage fee from any broadcaster” in view of the fact that they collect subscription revenue from the subscribers.

The MSOs saw red and hit back at the broadcasters by stating in a counter submission that if the broadcasters want carriage fee (given to cable networks to carry TV channels and on vantage bandwidths) banned, then the government should also look at banning advertisements on pay channels.

The central government’s dilemma on CAS is also understandable. State-level elections in April-May in states like West Bengal would add to its worry. And, decision-making gets that much tougher when one of the states going to the polls, West Bengal, is ruled by a Left party, which is also a crucial ally of the federal government in New Delhi. Kolkata is one of the three cities, apart from Mumbai and Delhi, where CAS is being sought to be implemented.

Though the Delhi High Court order exhorts the I&B ministry to rise above regional level party politics and not use “public interest” to influence an executive order (the notification related to CAS rollout) passed by the federal government, reticent politicians would definitely try to have their own way. Don't forget that I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi's parliamentary constituency lies in West Bengal and the street-smart politician has cut much of his political teeth in Bengal.

Though it hasn't reached a crescendo, there are already murmurs amongpoliticians of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), especially the local ones, on how CAS' introduction can be “disruptive” in Kolkata.

Apart from the West Bengal politicians, those representing the seven constituencies of Delhi in Parliament have already been petitioned by some cable operators on the ground that implementation of CAS might upset cable TV consumers of the National Capital Territory.

With Delhi's residents totally clueless on what CAS is all about – apart from what has been fed to them by politicians and the media – scepticism is bound to run all across on something new, which is not part of the basic infrastructure that is severely lacking in the Capital.

And, the Congress-led Delhi government, trying to battle its own intra-party differences on demolition of illegal constructions all over Delhi (as directed by Delhi HC) that has left the denizens of the Capital fuming, the will to immediately implement another court order (on CAS) is definitely lacking.

As things stand today, the government is keeping things fluid – deliberately so – to weigh all options, including the biggest challenge: political compulsions. Unless the third umpire – the courts – cracks the whip.

The writer is Executive Editor of Indiantelevision.com